Rebirth
by Galacticparty
Summary: Takes place 6 years after season 1, and instead of leaving their digimon behind they come with them to the human world. Season 2 never happens. Every so often a digimon makes it into the human world. It's the digidestineds job to stop it. During a particular fight, something happens to Matt's partner and he will need to enter the digital world to get him back.
1. Chapter 1

AU: Hello! This is my first fanfic! I hope you all like it :) I'd like to thank SennaNyx for helping me edit!

Takes place 6 years after season 1, and instead of leaving their digimon behind they come with them to the human world. Season 2 never happens. Every so often a digimon makes it into the human world. It's the digidestineds job to stop it. During a particular fight, something happens to Matt's partner and he will need to enter the digital world to get him back. With help from Izzy he finds a way to in. So far their are no pairings, but this will most likely change :)

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Matt threw a large duffle bag onto his bed, filling it with a few necessities. The majority contained rations along with a few hygienic items. He looked over to his bass which was placed neatly in its case alongside the wall, which was littered with posters of bands he admired. He sighed, deciding last minute to leave it behind. He zipped up the duffle and flung it over his shoulder. He grabbed a jacket and headed towards the front door. Just as he reached for the door knob the lights turned on and a familiar voice called out his name. Matt turned around to see his brother half awake. He sighed inwardly, having hoped to avoid coming up with any explanations.

"What are you doing? It's late you know." T.K. rubbed the sleepiness out of his eyes and tried to put on a more serious expression.

Matt hesitated for a moment. "Hey. I'm going out ok? I'm meeting with my band to practice".

T.K. narrowed his eyes as he examined his brother. He crossed his arms and gave him a skeptical look. "How are you going to practice without you bass?"

Matt mock smacked his forehead, "Right! I can't believe I almost forgot my bass! What would I do without you!?" Matt went towards his room and grabbed his bass. He really didn't want to take it where he was going, but it was the only way T.K. would even remotely buy his lame story at that point.

Matt jumped as he turned around to see T.K. right behind him.

"Matt…What are you hiding?" T.K. asked, now completely awake.

"Alright, alright" Matt replied making gestures with his hands before clasping them together. "So…I didn't want to tell anyone, but, I'm going on tour with my band, were being sponsored by a big production company! Don't tell anyone T.K. I want it to be a surprise when they see me on the T.V." Matt tried his best to sound genuinely enthusiastic.

T.K. was silent for a while, trying to process what his brother had told him. "Wait, Matt…I thought you were going to leave your band? You literally said, word for word, I'm done wasting my time I need to focus on school instead of chasing a childhood dream." T.K. watched his older brother carefully, as though struggling to decide if he was lying or not.

Matt was internally cursing his brother for being so intuitive - he was never good at lying, especially when it came to T.K. In one last weak attempt Matt replied, "I know, you're right. I did say that, but maybe we do have a chance. I mean we have a sponsor, and we're doing a tour, this could really help get us out there. I decided if things don't work out this time then I really will quit. I can't just let an opportunity like this slide."

T.K. sighed, "I don't think you're telling me the truth, and I think you're hiding something, but I won't stop you." T.K. looked up thoughtfully, "and, I'll accept what you're saying. You've gone through a lot this past month…just make sure to text me. I want to know you're ok, and if you don't I'm going to let everyone know." T.K. stood up straight with his arms still crossed, giving a look of finality.

All the anxiety Matt was holding instantly vanished with his brother's approval. He gave his brother a cocky smirk. "I'll be fine little brother. It's me we're talking about after all." He ruffled T.K.'s hair, to which T.K. responded with an annoyed grumble. Matt turned around to head out the door, and without looking back he said, "I'm glad you're my brother T.K. While I'm gone make sure you take care of everyone for me, they'll be counting on you to take my place." Before T.K. could respond Matt had closed the door behind him and left.

T.K. frowned, feeling sad for his brother. He returned to his room to find Patamon awake sitting on his bed with large curious eyes.

"What happened?" Patamon asked as T.K. took a seat next to his partner.

"Matt's going on a _tour_ with his band," T.K. said, making parentheses with his fingers to emphasize the word.

Patamon's expression reflected his partner. "You think he's lying?"

T.K. cupped his face with his hands. "I think so, but I'm not entirely sure. I know he's still hurt from what happened. He tries too hard to act happy. To be honest I'm not sure what's a lie and what isn't anymore."

Patamon made out the majority of what T.K. had just said, even though it was muffled by his hands. He solemnly replied, "Poor Matt….poor Gabumon."

The next day T.K. got up and went through his daily routine. As he sat down for breakfast with Patamon, he took out his phone to look for any messages from his brother. Instead he found multiple messages from Kari asking if he wanted to train with her and Salamon. Before replying to her he quickly sent a message saying good morning to Matt. He then started his reply to Kari when he heard a beep coming from the hall. "No…." T.K. said, panicking slightly. He quickly dialed Matt's number. In a matter of seconds he heard a familiar ringtone coming from inside brother's room. He opened the door and on Matt's desk was his cell phone vibrating against the wood. T.K. ended the call squeezing his phone in frustration. "Dammit Matt." He cursed under his breath.

He quickly called Kari and told her what was going on. In response, she told him to meet her at her house and said she'd inform the others.

Once everyone was at the Yagami's residence, T.K. told everyone what had happened the previous night. Tai was the first to speak up. "How could you have bought that!? His band split over a week ago T.K. and you just let him leave?!" Tai ruffled his mess of hair in irritation.

Kari spoke up at this point giving her brother a dirty look, "Don't talk to T.K. like that, it's not his fault, he didn't know! Tai, I think you're the only one he told about his band." Tai closed his eyes tightly as he tried to calm down. He mumbled an apology to T.K.

This time Mimi chimed in, "Do you think it's because of Gabumon?" Everyone exchanged looks, all thinking the same thing. It had been weeks since the incident happened, and Matt had taken it very hard. Kari squeezed her digimon into a tight hug, grateful to have her by her side.

"Ahem…" Tentomon spoke up trying to gain everyone's attention. "Um Izumi, I think you should probably tell them what happened." Everyone stared at Izzy, who squirmed a bit under the attention directed towards him.

"What happened Izzy?" Tai asked.

"Ah," he began sheepishly. "I uh, I think I know where Matt is." Izzy pulled out his laptop from his bag and started typing, mainly to calm his nerves as everyone stared at him questioningly. "He's in the digital world." Before Izzy could reply Tai interrupted.

"How? There's no way to get into the digital world from here anymore."

"Not necessarily." Izzy replied. He explained to his fellow digidestined about how he had been working on getting back to the digital world in order to study it. He and his partner had actually gone back a few times now. He pulled out a device that looked like a watch and explained how it works. "It's got the strongest connection to the digital world at the metro." He finished.

"Yes, and Matt is helping Izumi to collect more data. Gabumon and Matt went together last night as planned," Tentomon added.

The other digidestined exchanged looks once again. Izzy was slightly annoyed - he seemed to be the only one out of the loop.

This time Sora spoke up. "Izzy, you do know what happened. He told you right?"

Izzy shook his head. He had been gone for about a month studying overseas in a research program offered by his school. During the time he had little connection to his friends, and when he was able to send messages he had only chatted with Joe and Matt. He did remember Joe mentioning something about a digimon getting into the human world, but that occasionally happened and so he thought nothing of it, since it had been taken care of according to Joe. He had mentioned something about Matt but said nothing more as it wasn't his business, to which Izzy respected. Matt himself had emailed Izzy during that time asking about how his side project on the digital world was going. They had exchange a quite a few emails about it before when Matt had offered to help collect data with Gabumon.

"I really don't see a problem." Izzy spoke, "He should be fine, and we've all been there before, and he has the experience."

"But he doesn't have Gabumon." T.K. answered.

Izzy's eyes widened. When did this happen? What was Matt thinking, going into the digital world alone? From the way everyone was acting, Izzy could piece together what happened. "Matt is searching for Gabumon…which means, Gabumon was destroyed."

Sora nodded, confirming his guess. "This is what happened…"

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Thanks for reading! Leave a comment! Next time well see what happened to Gabumon!


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: I finally posted the second part :D Sorry it took so freaking long. I'll try to post faster from now on. I have no excuses to procrastinate now that I'm on break. I had initially accidentally wrote Izzy into the battle then realized he was gone during that time and was having the whole thing explained to him ORZ. I think I managed to fix it, but if there's a part I missed and Izzy is randomly somehow there, I apologize. Writing fighting scenes is hard yo. Hope you enjoy!

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A digital field is opened…

"Why does this keep happening?" Tai clenched his fist as he watched a digimon enter the human world. The earth around him began to quake, and the sky appeared to be getting dark as though a storm was coming. Tai had an ominous feeling about this encounter and quickly sent out a message to inform all the digidestined to stay close in case he needed back up.

For the past 5 months digimon had been entering the human world. Tai had anticipated this many years ago, when they left the digital world with their partners as children, that one day the portal would open again. For some reason digimon had been able to gain access to the human world easily, but they could not figure out how to open the portal from the other side to enter the digital world.

The encounters at first were spread apart. Every two weeks or so a digimon would appear. Some would have wild notions of taking over the human world, while others appeared to be confused as to how they got there. However as the first few months passed the encounters appeared to become more frequent, and the digimon were becoming more aggressive and harder to take down.

This time a Devimon came out of the rift. His deep red eyes seemed to be staring past Tai. The digimon sparked bad memories from the past, and sent a shiver down Tai's spine. He stood there frozen, wondering if it was the same Devimon.

Agumon nudged Tai. "Hey snap out of it!" his partner growled, feeling the same dread. "We have to stop him!" The Devimon started walking aimlessly as if it were in a trance. Buildings collapsed easily under the pressure of the Devimon's footsteps as he cleared a path through the city.

There was no need for Tai to inform the others to get there, as the destruction and power of the digimon was common knowledge. It would take them all to defeat it.

Sora was first to appear. Her digimon was already in its champion form, carrying Sora on her back. Tai was still in shock, but quickly snapped out of it as Sora called out to him. "Tai!" she shouted from above, "What are you waiting for? This is not the time to be standing around." Sora's eyes appeared fierce and ready, but had a hint of concern when she looked at Tai.

Tai knew she was right. They had to stop the Devimon from causing further destruction. He quickly digivolved his partner into Greymon and headed in the direction of the nearby Devimon, with Sora flying close by.

"Whats the status of the others?" Tai asked, falling back into the routine they had established from when the first digimon has started appearing into the human world.

Sora was already on her phone contacting the others through multiple lines. "Matt and Joe are south of Devimon, they will be attacking from the opposite side of us." Sora informed. Tai nodded as she pressed a button on her phone switching to the next line. Tai watched as she gave a few nods. "T.K. is not too far behind us." Sora paused for a second to listen. "and…Mimi and Kari are going to come in a bit late, but they are on their way now."

"Not bad," Tai replied as he took in the information. As they neared the Devimon, Tai commanded Greymon to attack.

In response, Greymon's mouth began to emit embers as he prepared to spew fire. The Devimon stoped and focused its blood red gaze onto Greymon. It chuckled before raising a long clawed hand and swiping it towards Tai's partner. The sharp claws grazed the dinosaur digimon as he tried to dodge the attack. He grabbed onto the Devimon's arm with all his strength in order to hold it in place. The pressure caused the wound inflicted on Greymon's side to gush out blood. The dark angel grimaced in annoyance as it became ready to strike once more – it raised its other hand. Before it could strike Birdramon aimed sharp burning feathers down onto the evil digimon. As Devimon shrieked, Greymon sent out a blast of fire at it once again. The Devimon thrashed in rage and shoved Greymon away. Using his powerful wings Devimon launched itself into the air. Birdramon was knocked down by the force, landing harshly into the side of a building.

Tai sighed, relieved Greymon was okay as he had seared his own wounds with his fire to stop the bleeding. 'Shit. Should I digivolve him again? But if it still fails…" He thought to himself knowing the cost of digivolving his partner into an ultimate. Greymon wouldn't be able to maintain the form for a long period, and if he failed to destroy Devimon before his partner reverted back, he would become totally useless in the battle. As he watched Sora and Birdramon crash into the building he became desperate getting ready to take the risk.

As he got ready to digivolve Greymon once more the Devimon glared over at Tai, as if he knew what he was about to do. Tai freezed momentarily. For some reason the look Devimon was giving him pissed him off; it was as though he was mocking him. He rashly decided to digivolve Greymon but before he could the Devimon sent a powerful gust of air at Tai. Greymon quickly tried to block it but was too slow, and Tai was knocked back. Greymon shot more fire at the other digimon in rage. With a tilt of its massive wings Devimon sent the fire right back towards Greymon. The Devimon focused on Greymon as he prepared to finish him off. He flew down and raised a long dark arm. Clouds of darkness surrounded his claws as he prepared to deliver the final blow. As Tai got up from the blast, he watched in horror through blurred vision.

"Well this was fun…" The Devimon laughed as he swung at the vunerable digimon. "Aaaaah!" he cried in pain when his attack missed. From behind, Garurumon had bit Devimon's neck, large flames surrounding its mouth. Devimon stumbled and swung the finishing attack at the wolf like digimon. Dodging the attack Garurumon jumped down infront of Greymon protectively and let out a howl. Before Devimon realized what was going on it felt a sharp paralyzing pain from behind. Ikkakumon could be seen below shooting missiles at him.

Tai sighed in relief. Behind the Devimon he could see Matt giving him a reassuring smile, and Joe's thoughtful expression carefully analyzing the situation. Matt left Joe to do the calculations as he ran to Sora's aid.

Matt helped Sora up, as she gained consciousness. Her head buzzed from the impact of hitting the building. Birdramon had managed to take most the damage as she tried to protect her partner before passing out and reverting into Biyomon.

"Thank god, she's ok." Tai got up and prepared to give his own commands to Greymon.

As they attacked together they seemed to be making an impact on the dark digimon.

The Devimon flew up into the air to make avoiding further attacks easier. Shadows were emitted from his body and soon the floor of the digital field was covered in black. It appeared to have no effects initially.

A beam of light is shot at Devimon, but he avoided the attack with ease. Then an arrow made of light was shot at him only moments after. Again the Devimon seemed to know and used the pressure from its large wings to knock the arrow out of the way, but was taken back as it exploded, sending beams of light everywhere. The digimon cursed and sent a dark ball of energy at Angemon as revenge.

T.K. shouted for Angemon to get out of the way, but was too late and Angemon took the hit.

"How did he know where we were? We just got here..." T.K. gritted his teeth as he attended to his partner.

Angemon ignored his wounds. "I'll be okay T.K." He responded to his worried partner before getting into a battle stance.

Tai directed his attention to Joe as he spoke. "It's this shadow surrounding us. He can sense where everything is," he explained.

The Devimon chuckled, "Yes, how very observant. The human with glasses is right. There's no need to hide, I'll destroy all of you I promise." The Devimon directed his gaze to where Angemon was.

Matt's younger brother appeared next to Joe. He had a scowl in his face as he saw the condition of his fellow digidestined.

"He's lying." Joe spoke up once more. "He's weak. It won't take much to take him down now."

Tai smirked, he wasn't Izzy but he was glad to have him on his team. "Alright guys, let's do this," he said confidently.

As Biyomon regained consciousness Sora gave her a quick hug and digivolved it back into Birdramon.

Angemon and Birdramon attacked from the air, focusing on Devimon's wings. Devimon screeched as he feebly tried to attack back. His attack missed terribly, and with one final blow, Birdramon knocked Devimon to the ground.

Devimon fumbled around as Garurumon, Ikkakumon, and Greymon closed in on him, surrounding him.

The Devimon put on an eerie smile as he rolled onto his back.

Tai scoffed as he looked down at the crippled digimon. "I think he losing it guys, let's put him out of his misery once and for all."

"Happily," Matt agreed.

As the digidestined prepared the final blow Devimon took his claws and buried them into his chest. He coughed out blood but kept smiling. Tai felt disturbed as he watched the digimon mutilate itself. He looked away as he commanded the attack. The final blow was bright and in a flash the digimon was disintegrated. The black shadow that cover the area dissipated.

Tai sighed in relief. He looked over at Matt, and they shared a smile. "Thank god you came when you did" Tai said, patting Matt on the shoulder.

"Yeah-" Matt was cut off by Joe.

"His data hasn't returned. He still alive." Joes face was filled with worry. "Where did he go?"

In the spot where Devimon should have been destroyed as a dark stain and ashes. A deep chuckling could be heard from above. "Foolish humans. You should all die, you're so weak. It takes 6 of you to even take me down, but I'm not done yet thanks to my finishing move." The digidestineds' digimon shrieked in pain. A dark shadow was attached to each of them and appeared to be draining their energy.

"It was a trap…I'm so stupid. I should have seen this." Joe cursed.

Tai's eyes widened as he watched his digimon in pain. "Whats going on?!" He shouted at Joe, shaking him by his shoulders.

Matt shoved Tai away as Joe looked at the monstrosity they failed to destroy. "I don't know," he replied.

The Devimon finished absorbing the energy he needed from the digimon. Once he was finished the shadows faded and the digimon were released, falling to the ground. They were on the verge to reverting back to their rookie forms.

The Devimon laughed wickedly as he used their energy to digivolve.

The digidestined watched in shock, as Devimon appeared to show similar features as their own digimon. When his transformation was finished he looked like a failed experiment, like someone had stitched various body parts of digimon into one being. Several arms came out of his side, all mismatch except for its original pair, and two sets of wings came out of its back. One resembling angel wings, and one resembling wings of a phoenix. His head looked like someone had taken an Ikkakumon and replaced its bottom jaw with that of a Greymon. Its bottom half resembled a Gabumon.

"I've never seen a Kameramon before." Joe said in horror.

A horrible sound resembling a laugh came out of the Kameramon. It sounded as if several voices were all speaking at once, "Are you ready to die?" The creature smiled wickedly.

The battle became intense. Tai grumbled, wondering where Kari and Mimi were. He looked around at his peers and their partners. They were all relying on him for a plan. He was their leader.

He watched as the weakened digimon fought back Kameramon. The evil digimon shot energy from its many arms. The digimon had managed to avoid a direct attack so far, but even a graze seemed to do tremendous damage. Tai watched as Angemon futilely shot light through his staff, and Birdramon rained down fire - all seemed to have barely any affect. Garurumon tried to keep the Kameramon distracted and occasionally helped to move the digidestined out of harm's way. Ikkakumon did his best shooting missiles at him.

Greymon looked at Tai, waiting for a command. Tai sqeezed his eyes shut. There was no other choice. If he didn't do something now all his friends would die. He began to digivolve Greymon.

Matt happened to look over at Tai, realizing what he was doing. "Tai, don't! He's to weak to digivolve again! Wait for Kari and Mimi, they will be able digivolve theirs into ultimates!"

Tai looked to the ground. "I know Matt, but if I wait..you could all die." Tai looked into Matt's eyes giving him a determined look. "I can do this!" he yelled.

Matt fell silent.

The other digidestined looked in horror as Tai's digimon digivolved successfully.

Tai stood in fear. The worst had happened. A loud screech came from his digimon as it started fighting the Kameramon.

Kameramon shot a large wave of energy at Tai's Skullgreymon. The shot had hit him directly but the digimon seemed to take minimal damage, only putting it further into rage. The Kameramon continued shooting the Ultimate until they were face to face. Kameramon started slicing and thrashing at it with his long clawed arms. Tai's digimon raged, attacking back using its bone-like limbs to overpower Kameramon.

The digidestined watched the monstrous creatures battle.

Skullgreymon finished the Kameramon once and for all with a blast from its mouth. The digimon burst into data other digidestined prepared to fight the Skullgreymon until it ended its rampage and returned to Koromon.

Skullgreymon turned to face the next digimon it could see. Birdramon froze in fear as the towering ultimate seemed to focus all its rage towards her.

"Fly!" Sora screamed, "Just worry about dodging it!" She could feel the adrenaline coursing through her. Her heart pounded fast causing her to feel light headed. She was genuinely terrified for her partner.

Tai tried his hardest to command Skullgreymon to stop. Like the first time it had happened, anything he said was futile. Skullgreymon could not hear him, all he could do was destroy everything in its path. He hoped he would run out of energy soon and revert back. He looked over to Joe wondering if he had any ideas.

Joe tried his best to clear his mind and think. He really wished Izzy was there. So many thoughts rushed through his head in the heat of the battle, but they all seemed rushed and flawed. He looked over at Sora and her partner who was dodging the Skullgreymon as best as it could. He then looked over at Ikkakumon. "See if you can get his attention" Joe commanded, "But be careful." Ikkakumon nodded and ran over behind the Skullgreymon shooting horns at it.

Tai watched as Joe carefully commanded his partner. "What should I do Joe? What's your plan?" Tai asked looking for a way to help.

Joe replied never taking his eyes away from his partner, "I don't know. I don't really have a good plan Tai. All we can do is keep it distracted until it burns all its energy. If we can stall it long enough Mimi and Kari may be able to help." Joe paused giving a quick side glance at Tai, "Keep trying to command Skullgreymon, maybe you can get him to listen. That's all I can think off Tai." Tai shook his head ready to try his best.

Matt had overheard the conversation between the two. "All right, I'll help to." He said, commanding Garurumon to distract the Skullgreymon as well. Joe and T.K. followed suit.

Their plan had worked for a little while, causing Skullgreymon to go back and forth between the digimon he was after. Skullgreymon who was barely affected by the attacks of the other digimon eventually started to ignore them and once more targeted Birdramon with even more conviction. Skullgreymon swiped a large boney arm at Birdramon, who managed to avoid it. Using the other arm, Skullgreymon attacked from the opposite side centering Birdramon in between him. Birdramon shot a few sharp firey feathers at the Skullgreymon causing him to roar in irritation. Light could be seen building up in its mouth as it prepared to shoot out energy. Birdramon saw this and quickly flew up falling into its trap. Skullgreymon had anticipated this, using his tail to launch a bone like projectile from above. Birdramon attempted to dodge but the attack had landed and tore a large hole through its wing. Birdramon staggered as it tried to stay in the air to keep from crashing down, but with one slash of Skullgreymon's arm Birdramon was done. On the ground Birdramon flashed, close to bursting into data.

Sora screamed to her digimon, tears building up in her eyes. Everything seemed to slow down as she watched the ultimate about to finish off her partner. As Skullgreymon swung its arm at Birdramon it was knocked back by a red shockwave. Sora watched as Garurumon had digivolved into Weregarurumon.

Watching the partner of a beloved friend about to be destroyed, Matt had been able to digivolve his own partner into an ultimate with no problems. He commanded his partner to keep Skullgreymon from causing further destruction without killing him. He looked over at Sora to make sure she was alright, and found her already caring for her digimon.

Weregarurumon slashed at Skullgreymon who screeched in pain. The Skullgreymon attacked viciously sending blasts from its mouth. Weregarurumon swiftly avoided it and grabbed Skullgreymon by the arms. Skullgreymon pushed back refusing to give in. The two ultimate were locked onto each other neither giving up in attempt to overpower the other. In strength they appeared to be almost evenly matched.

Skullgreymon roared putting all its energy into a shove in attempt to get Weregarurumon off. Weregarurumon faltered for a second but regained its composer pushing back. Skullgreymon attempted to shoot a ball of energy from its mouth at Weregarurumon. Weregarurumon could feel the raw energy building up. As the Skullgreymon shot it out, Weregarurumon let go, and did a front roll over the Skullgreymon landing behind it. He then proceeded to grab Skullgreymon from behind making it unable to use its arms, and placed a foot on its tail to keep him from shooting any projectiles at him.

The Skullgreymon thrashed, roaring nonstop. It analyzed the situation looking for another way out. Being unable to move all it could do was use the blast from its mouth, which could not hit the Weregarurumon from behind. In its attempt it found Ikkakumon still blasting its horns at it. Within seconds Skullgreymon aimed its head towards the inferior digimon charging up an attack. Weregarurumon barely realized what was happening. As it watched the blast leaving its mouth he saw the target ahead of it. He knew Ikkakumon wouldn't survive the blast. His partner had told him to protect the others, he was to let no one get destroyed. In a fraction of a second Weregarurumon let go of Skullgreymon and blocked the attack from hitting Ikkakumon. Weregarurumon took the full blast sending him flying into a building. Burns and scratches scatter acrossed his back. Weregarurumon got up as fast as his body would allow. When he turned to face the Skullgreymon, he was welcomed with a heavy tail trashed into his chest. Down once more Weregarurumon turned to his partner. He knew it was unlikely he would survive.

"Sorry Matt, I failed." Those were the last words Matt would hear from his partner.

Skullgreymon furiously pummeled Weregarurumon, hitting him over and over. Weregarurumon attempted to stop him, but was overpowered. Too much energy was lost when he had taken a direct hit from the energy blast. With a final blow, Weregarurumon burst into data particles.

Matt felt so many feelings build up inside of him as his partner was destroyed. He stumbled back, using the remaining wall of a collapsed building to support himself. He was in shock. He couldn't believe what happened. 'You didn't fail Garurumon…I failed.' Matt thought. Nothing around him seemed to matter at the moment. All he could do is replay the scene in his head as if it was on repeat. He failed to notice both Mimi and Kari had arrived.

Lillymon had entrapped the Skullgreymon in vines and flowers making it unable to move. Angewomon had shielded everyone from attacks and restored minor wounds to Birdramon and the others. Within minutes of their arrival Skullgreymon had been overpowered. Using too much of its energy it devolved into Koromon.

After everyone's safety was assured Tai ran over to Matt. He looked at his friend feeling guilty. "I'm sorry Matt. It's my fault." Tai tried his best to look at Matt as he spoke. His feelings of shame made it a difficult task. Matt looked up at Tai and replied, "It's not your fault Tai. You were trying to protect the team. If it wasn't for you all of us could have died. I'll be ok." He put on a weak smile. Tai felt like his heart was being squeezed. He knew Matt was lying. The look in his eyes told him more truth then his words. "Matt…" Tai spoke quietly. "Don't worry about me." Matt said walking away from the group.

Sora with Biyomon by her side blocked Matt. She said nothing, looking into his eyes. Matt broke eye contact with her. "I'm ok. It's not a big deal." He lied. Sora slapped Matt in response, "Don't say that about Gabumon! It is a big deal!" She yelled tears falling from her eyes as if she could feel all of Matt's pain. She pulled Matt into a tight hug. Matt was shocked at the outburst, he could feel his own tears threatening to come out. He took in a deep breath and hugged Sora back. He gently broke out of the hug moments later. "I need to be alone." He said to everyone, but looked only at Sora. Sora nodded letting him go. The digidestined would let him have his space.

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An now the story can begin! Leave a review, I could always use some advice and encouragement!


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Sorry for taking so long to post :( I'll try to start posting more frequently.

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After Sora finished explaining what had happened there was a short pause.

"I see." Izzy responded, a heavy expression reflected in his dark eyes. He hadn't expected Matt to act so impetuous. Perhaps hanging around Tai so much had rubbed off on him. He shook his head and held in a sigh. Either way they had to do something fast. It was dangerous to be in the digital world without a partner. He was thankful that at least the passage of time in the digital world and the time in the real world had evened out.

If they were going to enter the digital world and get Matt, he would need to retrieve some equipment from his place first. Since they would have to be at the subway in order to actually enter the digital world, he asked everyone to meet him there, texting them the location. They each took their leave.

Upon entering his house he noticed all the lights were out. His guardians had left a note neatly pinned on the fridge telling him they were out. He asked Tentomon to begin gathering some of his equipment as he prepared a note, informing he would be out all night. He listened as Tentomon buzzed away into his bedroom. He quickly placed the note onto the fridge before joining his partner. The polite digimon had neatly packed away his computer and other various gadgets into the proper bags. Izzy nodded a quick thanks and double checked the luggage to make sure everything was there. Tentomon had done a satisfactory job, and Izzy was proud to have such a reliable partner. He slung his large overstuffed computer bag over his shoulder, and Tentomon grabbed a bag with a fold up chair and table along with a small generator. Before leaving, Izzy opened his desk drawer which contained several small objects resembling SD cards, and a small stopwatch sized gadget. He scooped them up, gently placing them into his shirt pocket.

He took the bus to the nearest stop possible. No buses actually went directly to the old station, and he would have to walk the remainder of the way. He got off at a sparsely populated town at the edge of the city. A long time ago it was filled with factories, harboring many workers. However, over time it was deemed as unsafe due to chemicals and poor management of waste, being abandoned long ago. The area would most likely remain so. No one was willing to purchase the land since the cost of fixing up the area to make it usable was far too much. Izzy and Tentomon continued to walk through the shoddy area until they made it to the old station made out of cement, which had moss growing out of several cracks. He was relieved to see everyone had made it there okay.

T.K. was the first to greet him with a bright smile and wave. "Oh, good you're here. I was beginning to think we were at the wrong place…" T.K. said, looking around at the desolate location. "Are we even allowed to be here?" He questioned, looking at the entrance of the subway which was blocked by a single, horizontal, waist high chain.

Izzy shrugged nonchalantly. "No one's ever stopped me, and there aren't any signs saying otherwise." He nodded a greeting as he walked past the other digidestined. He and Tentomon proceeded to enter the subway stepping over the chain. Izzy paused and looked back at his friends. "Shall we?"

The other digidestined exchange a nervous look before following their redheaded friend.

The lights in the subway obviously no longer worked, Tentomon had a lantern hanging from its arms as they ventured deeper in. As they made it inside an abandoned subway train was sitting on the rails. Izzy entered a small office inside the station. It had two large windows, one facing the train, and one adjacent to it. With help from Tentomon he started setting up his chair and table, placing his computer on the table. He set up his portable generator giving power to all his devices. The fellow digidestined waited patiently with their partners.

"This place gives me the creeps!" Mimi whimpered holding Palmon's hand tightly.

Tai put on a large crooked grin, "Don't worry Mimi, I'm here. If you get scared you can come by me." Tai waggled an eyebrow while flexing his arms.

"Yeah Meems, if anything happens you can count on us!" Agumon chirped in, mimicking Tai and flexing his thick orange arms as well.

Joe rolled his eyes at the duo. "Is this really the time to be flirting?!" he barked over his shoulder. Gomamon flinched as his partner unintentionally yelled in his ears. He jumped off his shoulder and watched Agumon and Tai trying to hold in a snicker.

"Hey, if you don't got it, you don't got it," Tai replied leaning against the wall behind him.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Joe replied raising a brow, arms now crossed.

"Means you like Mimi! That's what Tai said!" Agumon chirped, now leaning against the wall with Tai.

Tai twitched at Agumon's outburst. He quickly bent down hushing his digimon. "You're not supposed to say that out loud Agumon! That's not cool…" Tai whispered.

Joe flushed, speechless; Tai gave him a sheepish look and mouthed a sorry.

Mimi giggled as Joe sporadically apologized. Izzy cleared his throat as his friends goofed off.

Everyone turned to face Izzy, giving him their full attention. Izzy then began explaining how they would enter the digital world. He could tell most of what he said went over their heads, with Joe being the exception.

"Ok." He spoke. "I'm going to need two of you to stay with me in case a digimon enters our world."

Joe was about to volunteer, but was quickly rejected by Izzy. Being the only other person who fully comprehended his plan, he needed him to be in the digital world with the others.

In the end Kari volunteered, shortly followed by T.K.

"This should be good." Izzy approved. He then handed the remaining four a small chip that looked like an SD card. "Put these into your phone." He instructed. The others did as told, Tai whining about not being able to listen to music as he pulled out his original SD to make room for the new device.

He explained how he would be able to track them through the digital world from his computer with that device. He then handed Tai the gadget that looked much like a stopwatch.

"This is how Matt and I would communicate in the digital world." He explained. "This is the only one I have, so try not to split up. I'll be able to contact you from my computer. Make sure to turn it on once you arrive to the digital world. Otherwise, like Matt, I won't be able to speak with you." Izzy finished.

The four teens nodded as they prepared themselves. They sorted through their bags making sure they brought everything they needed before entering the subway train.

"Ok, are you guys ready?" Izzy yelled out from the office. The four nodded in response. Izzy then began rapidly typing, entering the coordinates and coding required to send them there. "The signal looks good." He mumbled to himself. Before he could finish the code the earth started shaking.

"What's going on?" Kari asked.

"An earthquake?" Patamon replied, squirming in T.K.'s arms.

Izzy's expression darkened. As he did a scan on his computer. "No. It's a Drimogemon…" he scowled.

"Should we leave?" Kari asked, face masked in worry as she looked over at her brother and friends struggling to stand in the train as it shook.

"No." Izzy responded. "I'll send them into the digital world. You two start heading towards the Drimogemon. According to my calculations he should be surfacing soon nearby. I'll send the location to your phones. I'll be there shortly. If we can catch him while he's surfaced it shouldn't be hard." Izzy paused and looked up at the younger digidestined. "You got this!" He said encouraging. With that the two nodded and headed out of the subway, using a flashlight to guide them.

Tai opened the door of the train, "What's going on?" He cried out.

"Don't worry about it." Izzy replied typing rapidly. The louds clicks of each key he hit could be heard from the train. Within a matter of minutes Izzy had finished entering the necessary data and with the press of a key he sent Sora, Tai, Joe, and Mimi into the digital world.

Izzy let out a sigh before heading to T.K. and Kari.

As he closed in on them he could see data dissipating into the sky. He slowed down to let himself catch his breath.

T.K. and Kari smiled and gave him a thumbs up in unison.

_How cute_, he thought sarcastically as he panted. Although he had to admit he was relieved they had such ease with taking down the Drimogemon. They could then go back to the station to monitor their friends and see if they arrived safely.

Angemon and Angewoman devolved back into their rookie forms and jumped into their partners' arms as they headed back.

The station was still fine and had not taken any apparent damage from Drimogemon's digging. Izzy immediately headed to his computer to check on the others. He was relieved to see they had made it safely from a map on his screen. He was about to contact them when he saw something that made his jaw drop.

The younger digidestined cocked their heads, wondering about Izzy's expression. Kari spoke up first.

"Izzy? What's up?" she asked in a soft tone, trying not to disturb him further.

Izzy's head dropped, and he smacked a yellow gloved hand to his forehead. He let his hand slid down his face as he looked up at the two inquisitive teens. He held up the communicator that looked like a stopwatch.

"Tai left the communicator." He said sounding somewhat disconnected.

The three stood in silence for several minutes, before Kari starting apologizing profusely for her brother's idiocy.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Yay! Update! The dream in the beginning of this chapter was based off a scene from episode 48.

Thanks to SennaNyx for looking over my chapter and correcting some silly typos.

* * *

"_I hate being alone" I said out loud. Everything around me was clouded. Nothing seemed to matter anymore. My head hung low as I hugged my legs closer to me, further shielding myself from the world around me. I had closed myself off to everything and everyone. What had kept me going was my little brother. He had grown quite a bit in the Digital World, no longer needing me to protect him. Now I was truly unimportant. My mind lingered on the negative aspects that afflicted my life up till now. _

_I was totally in the dark. _

_At least that's what I kept telling myself. _

_Beside me was a furry companion, following me no matter what I did or said. Always trying to encourage me. Even now, when I'm at my lowest, he offers me support. _

"_I'm here for you, Matt. I used to be lonely too, I wandered around the Digital World without any friends at all, and then after I met you I knew I'd never be lonely again." Gabumon spoke sincerely, tears threatening his eyes._

_I could feel my heart warm up a bit as I listened to his words. I finally lifted my head, turning it toward the digimon next to me. My world seemed to light up a bit, and things became a little clearer. When I thought about it, I had come to realize that I felt the same way about Gabumon. It seemed as if a weight had lifted off my shoulders and for the first time in years I expressed a genuine smile. I could tell things would start to look up for me from now on._

Matt woke up startled, forgetting where he was for a moment. His heartbeat started to calm down once he had remembered he was in the Digital World. He felt a strange feeling of defeat, and loneliness that he hadn't experienced since he was a child. He shook his head trying to forget the depressing feelings his dream had left him with. It took all the energy he could muster to hop off of the couch he had found and get up. He looked around at the strange jungle he had ended up in. Thriving green trees and foliage covered the area around him. Looking up all he could see small bits of sunlight breaking through the gaps of the leaves and what he had originally thought were vines. It turned out that they were actually cords, which he could only imagine were connected to some strange type of machine. Through those gaps he could see an occasional Yanmamon buzz by. Luckily the dragonfly digimon seemed to dwell only above the canopy. Other than that, he had yet to run into any digimon.

After scanning the area once more, Matt sat back down on the random misplaced couch and pulled out an energy bar from his duffle bag. He chased it down with a swig of water before strapping everything onto his back. He sighed, staring at the heavy bass guitar case sitting next to him. He really regretted taking it, and was contemplating leaving it behind to sit in the jungle as he continued his journey.

"I can always get a new one," he said decidedly and started heading out of the jungle. He walked slowly feeling each step he made sink into the lush moss. He stopped in his tracks looking back once more at his possession sitting serenely on the white couch, case gleaming in a steam of sunlight.

Matt cursed to himself as he ran back to retrieve the guitar. In the end he couldn't leave it behind. It held to many memories of his time as a bassist and singer in The Teenage Wolves. "Curse nostalgia," he said as he made his way through the jungle once more. He could see a light up ahead depicting the exit.

* * *

"Ugh" Tai groaned as he stumbled out of the train, followed shortly by his partner and friends. The train had come to a crash into the Digital World, thoroughly banging up everyone inside. He could hear Joe puking somewhere in the background.

Tai spoke without turning around, not wanting to see the mess Joe had made. "Is everyone okay?" He asked.

Tai heard Sora approaching him. "I can't speak for Joe, but I'm alright." She was now standing next to Tai with Biyomon standing behind her. Tai watched as Sora looked around with a grim expression clouding her features. "The Digital World has changed a lot hasn't it? I don't remember it being this dark."

Tai nodded in agreement. The area they had happened to land in was barren and dim. The terrain was all packed with dirt and had large rocks with harsh jagged edges. The sky and earth were both a murky gray that stretched out as far as his eyes could see. The only sounds were the whistle of wind, and the occasional boom of thunder. It all gave Tai an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach. Agumon pulled at Tai's pants giving him a worried look.

"We should contact Izzy and tell him we made it." Joe spoke softly, now beside Tai being supported by Mimi. Palmon attempted to support Joe as well, but due to the height difference could only reach his leg. Joe waved off Mimi and her digimon and stood up on his own. He bowed a polite thank you before directing his gaze to Tai.

"Right," Tai confirmed, reaching around in his pocket. A spike of panic surged down his spine as he came out empty handed. He hurriedly went through all his pockets once more in case he missed something. He repeated this action a few more times before Joe put a hand on his shoulder. Tai's body went from tense to lax.

"Y-You…Don't tell me…" Joe's eyes were wide with fear.

Tai turned away from Joe and took a few steps forward. He rubbed the back of his head and gave a sheepish grin. "I uh, my bad…ha…" Tai watched as Joe's left eye twitched violently, followed by a loud lecture. Tai zoned out after the first minutes. _Responsibility blah blah, danger blah, stupid yadda yadda I got it, jeez. _Tai wondered if Joe's face could become any redder_. If he doesn't calm down he might pass out or strain something,_ Tai thought to himself. He then began to think of a plan on what to do next. Standing here surely wouldn't be useful. They had to get moving.

Tai was thankful when Mimi interrupted. "Hey guys, look at this," she said pointing to a small silver path behind some rocks that seemed to lead somewhere. The road had a glowing white circuit pattern that faded and brightened systematically. "Should we see where it goes?" she asked.

Joe look dumbfounded. "We can't just go following random paths! We need to contact Izzy and find out where to go!"

Mimi put on a slightly annoyed expression. "Standing around isn't going to help us. I'm sure Izzy will figure out a way to reach us. Just have more faith in our little genius. Besides…I don't know about you, but this mountain gives me the creeps. If there's a chance this will lead us out of it, I'm taking it."

Tai agreed. They'd never find Matt standing around here anyways. The best bet was to get a digimon to guide them. In a matter of seconds he was walking next to Mimi on the path.

Sora a Joe shared a look. She then shrugged and followed the other two digidestined. With a reluctant sigh Joe and Gomamon followed as well.

* * *

It had felt like hours since Matt had been walking towards the exit of the jungle. Judging the distance he should have made it out by now. It seemed as if he wasn't closing any distance, as the exit appeared to be just as far as it was when he first set off towards it. Confused and tired, Matt leaned against a nearby tree. He stood there in thought, pondering his situation. Having come up with no logical explanation he sighed, sliding down the tree into a sitting position. He rubbed his temples with his open hand, still clutching his guitar case with the other. "Is the forest keeping me trapped?" Matt thought out loud. It couldn't be though. That sounded crazy. But…then again, he was in the Digital World. Logic was useless here. He decided there was no use getting frustrated over it, and decided to try to calm down as thoughts of being trapped in the jungle forever rampaged his mind.

"If I lose it I really will be lost here forever." Matt pulled out his bass from its case and started strumming a relaxing melody. He immersed himself in the song, enjoying the rhythm and tune of each strum. The vibrations of the instrument resonated through his body, calming him down almost instantly. Matt closed his eyes and started humming to the beat. He tuned out everything around him, leaving him vulnerable. He didn't think any digimon were in the jungle anyways. The sounds of his playing blocked out any rustling in the undergrowth he would have normally otherwise heard. When he opened his eyes again he was surrounded by a small group of Goburimon with a Fugamon in the center. In a panic Matt jumped up, wishing he wasn't backed up against a tree.

"What is that boss?" One of the Goburimon spoke to the Fugamon.

"Some kind of human toy," the Fugamon responded acting like he knew what it was, when in fact he did not. "They grow their snacks in the hole," he said, nodding his head.

"Oooh I want one!" another Goburimon responded. "Wait…what's a human?"

"They're beings that come from the Human World," Fugamon responded smugly. His followers "Ooohed" in unison.

The Fugamon looked at Matt. "Give me your toy human. I want to have it." The Fugamon shook his club menacingly at Matt.

"No," Matt responded eyeing the digimon.

The Fugamon looked surprised at the refusal. He was a more talk than action kind of digimon. He didn't want his followers to know that however. "Do you think humans are tasty?" he asked his minions, mainly to intimidate the human.

The group of Goburimon all looked at each other and whispered. "I'm curious now boss!" one pitched in.

"Yeah, he looks tasty!" another Goburimon added, mentioning something about Matt's smell.

The Fugamon turned back to Matt. "Here I'll make you a deal, give me your toy and I will spare your life." The Fugamon was sure he'd give him what he wanted now. He smiled wickedly.

Matt furrowed his brows, wondering what he should do. He was slightly worried, but too annoyed at the Fugamon's pompous behavior to acknowledge it.

The Fugamon grew impatient as the human stared at him. Without thinking he started pulling the human toy, trying to pry it out of the human's arms. The Goburimon were growing excited jumping up and down cheering for their boss.

In irritation Matt ripped the instrument out of the Fugamon's grip, kicking him away. "It's not a toy." He gritted his teeth as a spoke.

The Fugamon looked shocked for a second, the unimpressed whispers from the Goburimon were enough to push him into a rage. "Goburimon attack!" he yelled, picking up his club. The Goburimon cheered also preparing to attack.

Matt's irritation faded, and was instantly replace with fear. Unable to escape the increasingly rowdy digimon, in one swift move, Matt swung his guitar as hard and fast as he could at the Fugamon.

A loud "CLANG" was heard as the instrument met with the Fugamons head. The guitar split in two, a few chords broken, dancing around wildly, as the remaining chords held the two pieces of guitar together. Wood splintered everywhere. The Fugamon passed out laying on the ground in silence. The Goburimon looked at their boss in fear.

"I would run if I were you," Matt said in the darkest tone he could muster, holding the broken instrument defensively. "The sound that you just heard will blow out you ear drums and penetrate your brains if you don't get as far away as you can," Matt lied, knowing the Goburimon weren't exactly the smartest digimon around.

"Oh man! What's a brain?" a Goburimon asked.

"I don't know, but it sounds painful! Let's get out of here!" his companion yelled. The group of goblin-like digimon ran.

Matt followed suit, dropping the broken instrument. He grabbed a piece of the splintered wood and placed it in his pocket as a keepsake. "Rest in peace," Matt said, heading away from the Fugamon before he woke up and caused more problems.

Matt watched as the Fugamon faded out of view as he ran towards the exit once more. His sprint turned into a slow trot as he ran out of breath. The exit still not getting any closer. He stopped in his tracks and panted for a bit. He pulled out the water from his bag and downed some. He was thankful he had come prepared. He took one deep final breath before resuming a more relaxed breathing. He put his water back into his bag. He really wasn't prepared for an attack from a digimon. He was unarmed and very vulnerable. Sticking to the shadows and hiding might not always be possible. He decided to build a makeshift weapon. He looked around the jungle for a long stick he could possibly sharpen.

As he was rummaging through the bushes he felt a strange warmness coming from his pants pocket. He stood up, leaning the stick he found against himself. He reached into his pocket a pulled out his crest of friendship. It was glowing a faint blue, then stopped just as soon as it started. _That was weird_, he thought slowly, placing his crest back into his pocket.

There was a rustling in the bush. "Not again," Matt grumbled, holding his new stick in front of him, preparing to fight. "Who's there?" He called out.

A small rookie digimon came out of the bushes. Yellows eyes glowed behind a mask as the digimon faced Matt, holding a wooden sword out at him. "I'm not here to hurt you human." A childish voice came from the digimon.

"I was watching you get bullied by Fugamon and his lackeys," the digimon announced. "He's always causing trouble…" he said, trailing off into thought holding an arm covered by an oversized sleeve up to his face.

"Ahem." Matt coughed trying to get the digimon to focus.

"Ah, sorry!" The digimon bowed politely. "I'm Kotemon." The digimon introduced himself.

"Uh. I'm Matt," Matt replied lowering his stick, no longer feeling threatened.

"Nice to meet you Matt," Kotemon said, lowering its swords once it saw Matt had put aside his stick. "What's a human doing alone in the Digital World?" Kotemon asked.

Matt saw this as a good opportunity to find out where Primary Village was so he could find Gabumon's egg. He told Kotemon his story from the beginning. The Kotemon gave Matt all his attention, nodding every now and then to show he was paying attention.

"Hmm," Kotemon pondered. "Well I'm not sure where Primary Village is…"

Matt sighed, a little disappointed with the answer. He'd have to find someone else, or figure it out himself. He was back to square one. He was about to bid the digimon farewell before he spoke again.

"Why don't I take you to Knightmon!?" he exclaimed, making a strange gesture with his arms. "Knightmon is amazing! He knows everything about the Digital World," he said placing his hands on his hips in a confident pose.

"That would be great," Matt said as he felt butterflies dance in his stomach from excitement. "But I don't need you to come with me. If you could just point out-" Matt's sentence was cut off by the other digimon.

"Absolutely not!" Kotemon said in a serious tone. "I can't let the weak travel alone! I want to defend you. It's what Knightmon would do," he said the last bit dreamily. Matt could tell he idolized this Knightmon.

"Besides, I can show you how to get out of the jungle. I watched you try for hours." Matt could only imagine the expression the digimon had behind its mask.

Matt sighed. "You think I'm that useless, huh?" he said sounded a bit defeated. Kotemon nodded his head vigorously as if he was totally convince Matt was a wimp. Matt felt his pride take a beating at the reaction but agreed to be accompanied. He could tell the Kotemon wasn't going to accept no for an answer.

Matt followed Kotemon as he sporadically weaved through the jungle going, what seemed, in random directions.

"Sorry about your toy," Kotemon finally spoke, looking up at Matt.

"It's okay." He replied. "And it's not a toy. It's a bass guitar. An instrument," he explained. Matt laughed at Kotemon surprise.

"That's the strangest looking instrument I've ever seen," he said. "Does it really grow snacks out of the hole?"

Matt laughed. "No," he replied before explaining how the instrument worked. He then went on to tell him about the difference between a guitar and a bass guitar.

"That's fascinating." Kotemon replied each time. "Tell me more about the Human World."

"Sure," Matt said before telling Kotemon another story. He had to admit, he was a bit relieved to have some company. He felt a little less lonely as he walked with the Kotemon through the jungle.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Yay an update! *twirls around indefinitely* I'd like to thank SennaNyx for proof reading! You are so awesome :D

Feel free to leave a review! Hope you enjoy!

* * *

"Master, master!" Fugimon ran through the halls of an elegantly decorated mansion lined with suits of black armor. He waved the club in his right hand haphazardly in his excitement as he ran to said master.

Sitting on the throne in the heart of the mansion was Astamon, who was currently absorbed in polishing his weapon. He could hear heavy uneven steps trotting towards him. He sighed, recognizing the walking pattern and annoying cries of his visitor. He rubbed his temples before lifting his head up. "Why are you pestering me Fugimon?"

"Hu—HUM—!" Fugimon tried speaking, but he was out of breath from running the whole way.

Astamon rolled his eyes. "Catch your breath fool," he said while carefully setting his gun down.

A few minutes passed as Fugimon panted and wheezed before speaking. "Humans! There's humans! He's going around causing trouble boss! He hit me and harassed my buddies!"

Astamon grimaced, standing up with one hand on his hip and the other pointing at Fugamon. "You're telling me you saw humans, HERE?"

Fugimon nodded in silence waiting for his master's response.

Astamon walked back and forth, one arm folder across his chest and the other resting on his chin in a thoughtful gesture. He mumbled to himself in silence, clearly becoming frustrated at the thought of humans in the Digital World. He finally stopped pacing and faced Fugimon. "This is truly exasperating."

"That's what I was thinking!" Fugimon replied. "So what do we do boss?"

Astamon smirked. "What do humans do when our kind goes to their world?"

"Uh, well they destroy them," Fugimon responded.

"Exactly," Astamon said, running his hands along the length of his coat.

"Wha? Ooooh! Okay, how though? He was pretty strong."

Astamon snapped his gloved hand and a Dark Knightmon stepped out of line from the black suits of armor lining the walls.

"What do you wish of me, sir?" Dark Knightmon kneeled, bowing before Astamon. His voice echoed through the heavy suit of obsidian armor.

Fugimon jumped as Dark Knightmon made his presence clear. "Jeez, you were here the whole time? What were you doing blending in with the decorations?! You nearly gave me a heart attack!"

Dark Knightmon merely glanced at the Fugimon, not amused or interested in interacting with him.

Fugimon grumbled profanities under his breath. "Thinks he's mister hot shot huh…" He faced away from the Dark Knightmon, arms crossed like a pouting child.

"I want you to find this human Fugamon speaks of and destroy him, and anyone who gets in your way," Astamon spoke, ignoring the quarrel happening between his subjects.

"Yes sir," Dark Knightmon answered getting up off his knees, preparing to head out on his masters request.

Astamon waved his finger side to side. "Tsk tsk tsk. Not so fast, Fugimon's going with you."

Fugimon chuckled, echoing his master's words. "Yeah not so fast... wait I am?" He looked up at Astamon with a pleading expression.

"Yes," Astamon replied coolly. "It'll be more effective if you go together. You know where the human was last seen. Take him there. Now get out of my sight," he finished in a slightly aggressive tone.

Fugimon nodded and made a few fidgety gestures, feeling a bit nervous at the tone of his master voice. Before he could do or say anything else, Dark Knightmon grabbed him by his collar. "Come," was the last thing he heard before being whisked away.

Astamon sat back down in his throne, crossing one leg over the other and interlacing his fingers. "Finally," he spoke, slightly relieved they were gone.

He then called for a Demidevimon. The bat like creature flapped around Astamon upon being called, waiting for orders.

"I want you and your friends to search our world. Humans never come alone."

* * *

Matt sat in the grass, resting his chin in his hand restlessly as he observed the different colored balls of data floating around the fields of the town. He watched as Kotemon spoke with Knightmon from afar. Some of the digimon residing in the town were cautious of humans and refused to let him in. Notably the Darcmon standing a few feet away, never lifting an eye off him.

As soon as he and Kotemon had made it to the village, it was her that made a huge fuss, causing problems for no reason. Because of that the whole village became wary and paranoid about his presence. Kotemon apologized profusely and had asked Matt to wait as he talked to Knightmon.

Matt continued to watch as the two digimon conversed, wondering what they could be talking about. He was interrupted shortly by Darcmon who was now hovering in front of him.

"I don't know what you're planning, but you're not welcome here human. All your kind has done is cause problems. I hear you have come to steal another of our kind away." She scoffed, pointing her staff at him menacingly.

Matt backed up a bit, giving a confused look to the angelic digimon. "What do you mean?" he asked.

The Darcmon sneered. "Don't act dumb. It's your fault digimon keep disappearing. I hear you take them to your world to only destroy them." Her wings sent a large gust of wind towards Matt as she stretch them out.

Matt fell onto his back from the pressure of the wind. Memories of the digimon entering the human world came to the front of his mind. Matt propped himself up again with one arm before trying to explain himself. "Hey-" he started, vexed by the false accusation.

He paused, anger and annoyance exchanged for dread and knot in his stomach as Darcmon held a sword towards him. "Give me one reason why I shouldn't dispose of you," Darcmon growled.

"How can I explain myself when you have a sword to my throat" Matt spoke in a low harsh tone.

As Darcmon was about to bark back a reply, Knightmon grabbed her weapon from her. "Knightmon!" She turned around in shock as the armored digimon towered over her.

"I'll give you a reason, if that is what you seek, Darcmon." Knightmon offered a hand to Matt.

Matt gave his thanks and stood next to Kotemon, who kept apologizing for Darcmons attitude.

Knightmon bent over picking up the tag and crest that fell out of Matt's pocket before continuing his conversation with Darcmon. "If it weren't for the chosen children our world would have been destroyed long ago."

"You can't really believe those stories! Even if they were true how would you even know he's a chosen child?" Darcmon said, defending her actions.

"They aren't stories." Knightmon gave Darcmon a stern look. Darcmon quickly turned away from Knightmon's piercing gaze, feeling like a child being scolded.

Knightmon then turned to Matt while holding up his tag and crest. "Something like this should be worn around your neck, not hidden in your pockets."

Matt gasped, checking is pockets not realizing he had dropped his crest. Knightmon continued speaking before Matt could say anything. "I am honored to meet you." Knightmon gave Matt a quick bow. "Kotemon told me why you are here. I am sorry for your loss. However, you do know that once you find your partner, he may not be the same digimon he once was?"

Matt didn't have a single doubt about what he was doing. He nodded in reply. "I understand, but I still want to find him."

Knightmon nodded, "I see." He then placed Matt's crest around his neck. "If you ever need assistance show this to the leader of any village you pass along the way. They will know what it means. I myself will help you in any way I can. You can ask me anything." He then handed Matt a map. "This will show you how to get to Primary village."

Matt took the map and opened it. "Thanks," he said sincerely. "If it's okay with you, I think I'll head off right away."

Knightmon nodded. "If that's what you desire. Be aware that your journey may entail much more then what you intended. I wish you luck."

Matt took his gaze off the map and gave Knightmon a curious look. "What do you mean by that?"

Before Matt could get a response, a familiar voice called out from the entrance of the village, "Well what do ya know? They didn't get very far!"

"Not him again," Matt sighed as he saw Fugimon heading towards him. Inherently the goblin digimon didn't seem like much of a risk until he felt a threatening aura emerge from the forest entrance. He watched as a Dark Knightmon came towards him, dark miasma surrounding his entity.

Knightmon stood in front of Matt protectively. "It's time for you to start your journey. Kotemon, don't let him go anywhere without you."

"Yessir!" Kotemon saluted and grabbed Matt by the hand, dragging him along.

"Wait," Matt interjected, trying to resist the pull of Kotemon. "We can't just leave them."

Darcmon took her weapon back from Knightmon and took a battle stance next to him. "We're more capable than you think, brat! I don't know what Knightmon sees in you…But you do what he tells you to! Besides without a partner you're useless. Now scram!"

Matt felt his stomach sink as he and Kotemon ran off. He could tell the Dark Knightmon was much more powerful than both Knightmon and Darcmon combined. It pained him as the words of Darcmon echoed in his mind.

"Oh, it's been awhile Knightmon," Dark Nightmon said, amused by the actions of Knightmon and his companion towards the human. "Lord Astamon has requested the destruction of this human. You dare interfere?"

Knightmon scowled, readying his sword. "Lord? Don't make me laugh. There is only one lord, and when they return…"

"They'll never return," Dark Knightmon replied, sending a piercing force of dark energy from his twin spear.

With a single swipe from his sword Knightmon easily cut through the attack, protecting both him and Darcmon.

The Dark Knightmon chuckled maniacally. "This should be fun." He took his spear in his hands spinning it around with skill. "Treason Vortex!" he cried as he created a dark maelstrom.

Darcmon prepare a large shield in response. She then placed both hands on her sword, holding it in front of her face as she chanted preparing for a heavenly blast.

Knightmon kept slashing at the darkness as is crept closer. Using great force, as soon as he found an opening, he slashed through the vortex, breaking his sword in the process. He tossed the broken blade aside, grabbing another sword by its hilt from his belt.

Metal clashed sending sparks of light everywhere as the two Knightmon fought each. They appeared as a blur of movement from the intense speed at which they were fighting at.

Fugimon took this chance to slip away while both digimon were occupied. He went after Matt and Kotemon himself.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: I'm back with an update! Since it took so long I decided to make the chapter longer too. I'll try to post the next chapter before Winter quarter starts up as well so you wont have to wait long this time :D

* * *

Astamon sat in his throne, patiently watching a mirror which reflected the eyes of the Demidevimon. A small smile twitched at the corners of his mouth as he saw a group of four humans lurking in the mountains. "I knew it." he growled under his breath. He didn't like humans poking around in his territory. They were especially close to finding a secret he kept hidden away. "Did _she_ call them here?" he asked himself, wondering why now humans would show up. They would no doubt find her, and maybe even release her from the bindings he had set up.

"What's your command?" A demidevimon asked through the mirror.

"Eliminate them." Astamon replied, "A blast to the mountain should suffice. Hit it in the right spot and the debris should crush them." Astamon laughed fiendishly.

"Aye-aye sir."

* * *

"Look, I was right!" Mimi chirped, pointing out to the horizon. "This path looks like it'll lead us out of this place."

"Right on!" Tai praised his teammate. He went ahead of everyone, sliding down the steep path with Agumon. "Let's get moving!"

Joe hesitated as he peered down the narrow path. "It's awfully high up…" he stated, creeping towards the edge to get a better look down. All he could see was a thick canopy of various tropical trees. When peeking through the gaps in the leaves, it was impossible to perceive how far the drop was. All that could be seen was seemingly endless trunks. "That's a pretty long fall…" He conjectured.

"Aw, come on Joe, you'll be fine!" Gomamon said looking up from within Joe's arm, while patting a furry white flipper against his chest.

A worried expression reflected in Sora's eyes as she turned around to face Joe. "That's right, you're afraid of heights huh." She cupped her hands around her mouth as she called out to Tai, "Hey, wait up!"

Tai stopped in his tracks and turned around. "What gives?" He yelled back, raising an eyebrow and drawing his lips to one side. He smacked a hand to his forehead when he noticed Joe fretting. His hand slid down his face slowly as he exhaled. "Right. Joe and heights." He grumbled.

A high pitched breathy sigh slipped out of Mimi's mouth next. "Joeeee," she groaned as she paced around him in airy light steps. She brushed a few loose strands of hair behind her ear as she listened to Sora ponder aloud some possible ideas. _Oh, I know! _Mimi thought, smiling to herself. She sneaked up behind Joe as he argued to Sora about why they should stay in the mountains. She leaned in as she placed her hands over his eyes and whispered into his ears. "If you can't see then you won't have anything to worry about."

Joe's face became bright red at Mimi's proximity. He sputtered and choked as he tried to get words to come out of his mouth, but all he could focus on was the sweet scent of her perfume. He heard his partner shouting at him when he almost lost his grip, arms shaky. He seemed to be melting away under Mimi's whims. Shaking his head, he attempted to clear out his mind and protest once more, but Mimi had somehow become closer to him, now pressing her body against his. "Come ooooon, I'll guide you the whole way." Mimi pleaded in a sugary tone.

Joe gave in, not being able to handle anymore of Mimi's teasing, "S-sure…." his words came out distant and dreamy. _At least I'll have an excuse to hold her hand_. Joe thought to himself.

Mimi let go and giggled, jumping excitedly. "Yaaaay! Let's go save Matt now!" she beamed, sharing a high five with Palmon.

Joe sighed, but quickly broke into a smile as he saw Mimi cheering. _One of these days I'll ask her out! _He clutched his fist, determinedly.

Palmon gave Joe a strange look as she watched his weird gesture. Joe quickly corrected himself, standing up straight, trying his best to not look suspicious.

"You know you don't have to be scared Joe." Palmon spoke up.

Joe looked over at Palmon nervously "What?" he asked, wondering if she had someone knew what he was thinking just now.

"I'll catch you before you can fall!" She said, extending the vines from her hands to demonstrate.

_Oh. Right. That._ Joe wiped away some sweat that was beading up at his temples. He was relieved she was talking about his fear of heights, but tensed up again when he remembered what he was about to do. "Thanks, Palmon." Joe mumbled.

"If you ladies are done fussing, I'd like to get things done." Tai shouted over to his friends, tired of all the stalling. He wore a bored expression as he crossed his arms.

Joe was about to send back a snarky remark when a huge blast sounded. The digidestined all exchanged a confused look as the ground started to rumble just moments later. Parts of rock and dirt crumbled down the top of the mountains. Fast to react, Tai took off lunging towards Sora. He knocked her out of line of a huge blast. Sora landed on her back from the push, scrambling to get up right. When she looked back, she saw that the path she had been standing on had crumbled. Both Tai and Agumon had fallen, taking her place, now lost in the depths of the forest.

Sora cried out to her lost comrades, looking over the ledge. Her eyes widened as she searched for their figures, unable to see anything but darkness. Her chest heaved with hasty breaths as she felt her anxiety build up. She wondered if Tai and Agumon were alive.

She rapidly shifted her attention back to Mimi and Joe to make sure they were okay. The path they were on had been demolished by the blast as well, however Palmon was able to save both Joe and Mimi from falling. Above them she could see the culprit who had caused the accident. A demidevimon hovered high up above them. She could see it charging up its attack, about to send another blast towards Mimi and Joe. "Watch out!" she alerted, ordering Biyomon to attack the opposing digimon.

Joe and Mimi were slow to react, barely back on solid ground as Palmon released them. Luckily Biyomon's attack had landed, and the demidevimon's attack had missed. It ended up hitting the mountain instead, causing it to collapse, and separating Mimi and Joe from Sora.

"No!" Sora barked, reaching a hand out in desperation. No longer able to see her friends, she gave her attention to the demidevimon who was trying to flee, giving it a fierce glare. "Biyomon digivolve!"

* * *

As Tai woke up, intense pain racked his mind. He could feel something warm running down the side of his face. Without thinking he went to wipe at it with his hand. He winced at the sight of his own blood. "Great," he grumbled propping himself up with his right arm and pulling his bag off his back. As he sat up he immediately looked around for Agumon, freaking out when he could not find him. Without thinking he jumped up, and began to search, calling his partners name. He nearly blacked out from the blood loss combined with standing up so suddenly. He leaned against a tree as his vision came back into focus. He saw a little orange blur head towards him.

"Whoa Tai, your head!" A familiar voice proclaimed, pointing a blurred arm at him.

Tai took in a deep breath before sliding down the tree to sit. "Agumon, what were you doing, I thought you were gone." Tai said in a weak voice.

The orange digimon sat next to his partner noticing the wound on his forehead. "I was looking for you! You should really do something about the bleeding Tai! You're making me worry."

Tai nodded and reached for his bag, dragging it towards him. There was a large tear in it, and many of the contents inside were broken, smaller objects had fallen out of the hole altogether. He luckily found his first aid kit mostly intact, removing some disinfectant and a bandage. With the help of Agumon he had managed to clean out his wound and wrap up his head. When things were finally taken care of Tai spoke up again, "I'm surprised we're alive."

Agumon handed his partner a water bottle from the pack. "Yeah the canopy and vines broke our fall. I saw you hit your head on a branch before I got caught in some vines and lost you."

Tai groaned at the thought of smacking his face into a branch while taking the water from Agumon, and using it to down some pain killers. He looked up from where they fell. All he could see was deep green with the exception of light shining through the small holes created on their fall down. He reluctantly got up again, and gathered his stuff back into his bag. He tied the hole in the bag together with the loose fabric around it making it lopsided and uncomfortable to carry. "Well no use in sitting around. Let's go find Matt and the others." Tai spoke, smiling down to his partner as they began to walk.

After walking around aimlessly for a few minutes Tai paused, slowing his pace down. "Does everything look the same to you?" He asked his partner, noticing no matter where they happened to walk or turn everything looked exactly the same.

Agumon gave Tai a strange look, as if there was something incredibly obvious he should have known. "Really? You can't tell we're closer to the exit? Can't you smell the food?" Agumon replied while tripping over some wires and broken wood. "Ow!" he cried out hobbling on one foot while cradling the other.

Tai rolled his eyes at the comment, before bursting out into laughter as his partner limped around murmuring profanities. "That's what you get for being a prick to me." Tai said, once his laughter died down. "And where did you learn to talk like that?" He frowned as Agumon pointed at him. Tai let out a disapproving sigh, then bent down to examine what his digimon had stubbed his foot on. "What is this?" he asked, looking at a mangled piece of wood connected by a few wires. His eye's widened when he recognized it as Matt's guitar. Agumon realized shortly after Tai, what the object was. They shared a surprised and excited expression before hastily heading towards the exit of the forest, Agumon leading the way.

Agumon was first to exit the dense forest. He saw a short trail that led to the village, where he could smell the scent of food much more strongly. "Hurry up Tai!" He called out to his friend, who was audibly panting in the background.

"Ugh, my head is throbbing." Tai replied, hunched over from exhaustion and gripping his wound. He could now smell the food Agumon was talking about. His stomach rumbled in response, giving him a strong desire to head there faster. "Let's go. I'm dying to get something in my stomach."

"What about Matt?" Agumon asked, "Can't you just eat those energy bars you guys brought?" he continued, trying to do the right thing, although his mouth began to water at the smell of meats and stew. The energy bars never did really taste all that good. They shared an almost hesitant look before they spoke in unison, "Matt can wait for just a few minutes." They paused slightly shocked at their in synced outburst.

"Looks like we agree" Tai said in the sort of serious tone one might use when relaying bad news.

"Yup!" Agumon replied swallowing his saliva.

"We can ask about Matt in the diner." Tai nodded.

"Uh-huh." Agumon agreed before both took off, closing the gap from the forest to the entrance of the village.

Their hopes of a quick meal were quickly forgotten as they approached the entrance of the village, witnessing a fight taking place between a hulking Black Knightmon, and a Darcmon. She had just shot a powerful beam of light at the opposing digimon, but the Black Knightmon had stepped out of the way with ease. Tai could feel his booming laughter vibrating in his chest.

"He's much stronger than her." Tai growled quietly to his partner, feeling his face heat up in anger as the dark digimon threatened the Darcmon. "You know what to do." Tai said as he digivolved Agumon into Metal Greymon.

Agumon evolved into his ultimate. He used his enhanced speed and blocked the Black Knightmon's weapon, causing it to shatter on impact. The Dark Knightmon looked surprised at the sudden attack, jumping away immediately, and sending a blast of dark energy at the attacker.

Metal Greymon, shot out a missile from his armor, deflecting the attack with ease, causing the Knightmon to grimace in annoyance. It was clear that the Dark Knightmon had been worn out from his battle with the other digimon. Tai had suspected that there may have been others destroyed prior to his arrival. He ordered Metal Greymon to finish the battle and take him out.

To this his digimon powered up a blast from his mechanical arm, sparks of light dancing around a rapidly growing orb of fire. The Dark Knightmon must have understood what was about to come. In one final move, he had conjured the shattered pieces of his dark lance. The ebony shards shined as they gathered around Metal Greymon. In one fluid motion the Knightmon gripped his hand causing the pieces to all hone in at their target clashing together. Metal Greymon attempted to jump out of the way, but the shards seemed to be tracking him, flying towards him in a blur of black. As soon as Metal Greymon switched his attention, the Black Knightmon summoned a dark portal and withdrew inside of it, teleporting him away from the fight.

Darcmon quickly shielded Metal Greymon with a holy barrier, nullifying the dark shards. As they bounced off the ring of lighted enveloping their target they turned clear and transparent, shattering as they fell to the ground, and creating a sparkling affect.

"Coward!" Tai shouted out to where the Dark Knightmon had vanished. He gripped his fist, and clenched his jaw as he tried to calm himself down. Angry at the fact that the dark digimon attempted a sneak attack on his partner before fleeing, nearly injuring him.

Metal Greymon devolved to save energy. It had been awhile since he had digivolved straight from rookie to ultimate and it effectively wore him out. "Thanks," he politely nodded to the Darcmon, who was now inspecting Tai.

"Ah, no. I should be thanking you." She replied focusing on the crest around Tai's neck. "Ugh, another strange human." She said before shaking her head. She exchanged her look of irritation for one of despair as she thought back to the battle and how Knightmon had risked his life to protect the other human.

Tai turned his head to the Darcmon rapidly, giving her his full attention. "Another strange human?" he asked, restating her remark.

Darcmon glared at Tai before replying, "Yes, that's what I said."

Tai took a few steps closer to Darcmon, unintentionally invading her personal space. He put his arms on her shoulders, causing her to shake him off and back away. "Where is he?" he asked, his expression showing a mix of worry and concern.

Darcmon was quiet for a second as she studied the human's face, whilst pondering what Knightmon might have done. She thought about Knightmon's sacrifice, and how he seemed to hold the humans with the crests, _"the chosen",_ with high esteem. She finally made her decision. "I will take you to him. Kotemon and that human couldn't have gotten far." She commanded Tai and Agumon to hold onto her so she could fly them.

Agumon hesitated shuffling around, "What about the food." He stated in a hushed tone. Darcmon sent him an intense look, causing Agumon to look away and make himself smaller. The angelic digimon then disappeared without a word into a small building near the entrance. When she emerged back out, she was carrying two bundles of food wrapped in a bag. She handed them to Tai and Agumon before grabbing them by the arms and taking off. "You better not turn out to be a disappointment." She spat out. Only doing what she was to make sure Knightmon's sacrifice was not in vain, and to carry out his wishes.

Tai and Agumon were shocked at being pulled into the air so suddenly by Darcmon. Agumon frowned at his bag, wondering how he would eat with Darcmon using his free hand to hold him in the air. Tai displayed a goofy smile, both amused as his digimon's reaction, and the fact they would soon find Matt.

* * *

Matt was thankful when Kotemon finally released him. He had been bent over due to the height difference between him and the armored digimon, and dragged down a dirt path for the last hour. He was stretching out his back when he noticed Kotemon looking back toward the village they had left. He wondered what the digimon was thinking, unable to see his appearance through his mask. He figure he was probably worrying about his friends.

Matt kneeled next to the digimon and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. Kotemon jumped in surprise, not expecting Matt to do that. He smiled under his mask appreciating the gesture, even though in the pit of his stomach he knew something was wrong. He shook his doubts off not wanting them to interfere with the duty Knightmon had given him. He had to be strong and protect Matt until he had completed his task. "We should keep moving. I think we can make the next village before dark."

Matt frowned, about to speak when a small rock hit his head. "Ow!" He snapped, rubbing the spot he was hit, looking around for the source. A loud strange gurgling noise came from the top of the path behind them. Fugamon stood there laughing, "I've got ya now!" he cried.

Matt furrowed his brow and sighed. He wondered how many times he would run into Fugamon before he got rid of him.

Fugamon noticed Matt's unimpressed and vexed looks, "Hey! Be more worried! You won't win this time human! You have nothing to protect yourself with now! Besides, I trained with Dark Knightmon before we got here!" Fugamon lifted his smug face into the air, as if basking in his own self-proclaimed glory.

Matt snorted in retort, folding his arms. He was surprised when Kotemon place himself between him and Fugamon, holding out his wooden sword. "You're wrong Fugamon. You'll have to get through me if you want to hurt Matt!"

Fugamon closed his eyes shaking his head while shrugging. "You? A rookie level? I'll take you out with one blow!" he said now pointing his club at Kotemon. "I'll humor you, but don't cry when you're destroyed!"

"You'll be the one crying!" Kotemon replied, charging towards his opponent. A blue light surrounded his sword. One slash, and a force of blue energy shot out at Fugamon causing him to lose balance and stumble. Fugamon quickly jumped up and shouted, "Hey I wasn't ready yet!"

"You must always be prepared when facing your opponent," was Kotemon's response.

"Oh yeah, well take this!" Fugamon threw a rock at Kotemon, who easily knocked it away with his sword.

"Are you sure you're a champion level?" Kotemon asked innocently.

Fugamon took offense to this. _Being mocked by a rookie? I'll show him._ He thought to himself. Fugamon ran towards Kotemon, charging with his club. Kotemon braced himself for the attack, ready to strike him down once he got close. Just when he prepared his counter, Fugamon seemed to disappear, reappearing behind him and hitting him in the back of the head. The force had Kotemon falling to the ground.

Kotemon quickly got up, being welcomed by a gust of wind, similar to a small hurricane. Kotemon tried to cut threw, but the impact caused the wind to burst out in every direction sending him flying back.

Matt called out to Kotemon, running up to his aid. Kotemon got up in a weak attempt pushing himself away from Matt while reassuring he would be fine. Matt could tell he was determined, but couldn't help but worry if he would be alright. Fugamon seemed to have gotten stronger since he had last seen him, and as a rookie Kotemon's stamina and strength could not compare to that of a champion level. Kotemon then turned around stretching his fist out behind Matt, catching a bone club before it could hit him. Matt's eyes widened as Kotemon saved him. His hand sparked with neon blue waves of electricity. "I have to protect you. I promised Knightmon." He said, throwing the weapon aside, dragging Fugamon with it. Matt noticed a faint light coming off his crest when he did that.

_What's going on?_ Matt thought gripping his crest as he watched the two digimon fight. Kotemon managed to knock Fugamon around for a while, but his comeback was short lived. He attempted to head butt the Fugamon, his head coated with some sort of fire based ability. Fugimon easily dodged it, clubbing him, sending Kotemon plummeting into the dirt, face first.

Kotemon's frame shook this time as he tried to get up. Pain racked his entire body, but he refused to give up. His weakened figure started pulsing a blue light.

"What's this?" Fugamon asked watching Kotemon, ready to strike down. "Is this what a digimon looks like before it bursts into data? I wonder what he'll look like when I finish him!" He stated ready to swing his club.

Matt threw a large rock at Fugimon before he could finish his attack, hitting the Fugimon in the eye. The goblin like digimon shrieked in pain, changing the target of his attack to Matt.

Matt scowled as the Fugimon ran towards him. He held out his digivice, "Kotemon digivolve!" he shouted. Matt side stepped Fugimon's linear attack as a stream of data enveloped Kotemon digivolving him into a Musyamon.

Within seconds the fight was ended. A flaming katana ripped through the back of Fugamon sending his data bursting everywhere. Musyamon sheathed his sword, then turned to face Matt. In his evolved form he was tall, humanoid in shape, covered head to toe is old Asian armor. Aside from a mouth full of sharp teeth, his face remained hidden by his helmet with the exception of his eyes. "Did you do this?" He asked, still retaining a childlike voice.

Matt was speechless for several minutes before trying hard not to laugh. However his snickering turned into uncontrollable mirth. Musyamon waved his arms in confusion trying to calm Matt down.

"What's wrong!?" Musymon asked making nervous movements.

Matt managed to form words through his laughter. "I thought you looked menacing. But that voice." He struggled for air as he started to giggle again.

Musyamon's mouth was wide open. Feeling embarrassed, he didn't know what to say in response. "Wha-What?! It's not that bad! There's nothing wrong with my voice!" He tried to defend himself. He realized he was getting worked up over something silly and tried to clear his throat and regain composure. "Anyways. What about this? Did you cause me to digivolve?" He asked referring to his current state.

At this point Matt had finally ceased laughing. He placed a hand on his chin as he thought about what Musymon had said. "Yeah. My digivice started glowing during your battle. Your data must be compatible with it. Can you devolve?" He asked curiously.

Musyamon nodded, "Yeah I think so." He focused and closed his eyes. A faint white glow consumed his form as he devolved back into Kotemon. He looked back at Matt excitedly, waving his large sleeved arms up and down. "Wow! That was so cool! I've never digivolved before!" He stopped his frantic jumping for a moment, closing his eyes and focusing again. He digivolved back into Musyamon. "I can do it on my own now! Can you evolve me again?!" He asked excitedly.

Matt shook his head. "I'm not sure. I've never tried to digivolve another digimon until now. I wonder if the others can also…" He trailed off into thought, "Uh, anyways. You should devolve when you're not fighting. Holding a higher form has a large energy cost." He said, breaking out of thought.

"Oh okay!" Musyamon said devolving once more. "I'm really glad I met you Matt. I don't think I could have digivolved on my own! Now I can protect people just like Knightmon!" He shouted, hopping around once more in delight.

Matt didn't know what to say to that so he opted for a smile instead.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Oh my god. My new years was crazy. Awesome, but crazy. I had written this chapter on my flight back home in the morning on my cell phone, then lost my phone later that night when I went out -_-. Luckily the stuff on my phone was linked to my google account so I didn't lose everything. I was so happy for that!

Anyways, Happy New Years everyone! Enjoy the small update.

* * *

Matt had set up a small fire and procured some logs to sit on. Even though Kotemon was eager to get them to the next town, Matt could see Kotemon was worn out, both mentally and physically.

Kotemon had protested of course, but as soon as he sat down and felt the warm glow of the fire, he fell asleep almost instantly. Matt was amused as Kotemon snored and mumbled to himself in his sleep. It had reminded him of the way T.K. used to sleep when he was a child.

It was getting dark now and the sky was slowly becoming darker. Night time in the digital world was always beautiful. Matt looked around at the data pulsing and floating around in different colors of round light resembling flies. It was oddly calming. Matt let out a yawn before laying down. He looked up into the sky as he let his eyes start to drift. He didn't realize how tired he was. He even thought he saw Tai and Agumon being carried towards him in the air by Darcmon, but that would be impossible. Matt closed his eyes and let them rest a little before shooting up into a sitting position, eyes wide. "Tai?!" He spat out, taking a better look. He could see Tai's signature lop sided smile and wild hair.

Matt, now standing, watched in a slight stupor as Darcmon dropped Tai and Agumon in front of him.

"I must return to the village. With Knightmon gone, they will need me more than ever. I wish you luck chosen ones." Darcmon said with a glint of sadness in her eyes. She left, launching back into the air, leaving the two digidestined to rekindle.

Tai was first to break the silence. He paced back and forth expelling his excess energy as he started to speak. "I don't know whether to punch you or hug you." Tai said while waving his arms in the air. When Matt didn't reply Tai got up in his face and snapped his finger. "Hello, earth to Matt." He said, causing something inside Matt to snap.

"Aauugghh!" Matt let out a drawn and annoyed yell as he punched Tai in the face. "You!" He grumbled, chest heaving and eyes turning an icy blue.

Tai fell to the floor from the impact of Matt's fist. He propped himself up and rubbed his jaw. "So you are mad at me for that day. I knew it!" Tai said pointing at the blonde accusingly.

Matt was taken aback "Wha-? No! I'm not blaming you for what happened. You did the right thing." He shot back.

"Yeah, you don't blame me but you're still mad." Tai retorted.

"I'm not." Matt lied, not wanting to admit he was still a little bitter about the whole ordeal. "Not about that." Matt offered Tai a hand to help him off the ground. "You shouldn't have come here. I know you didn't come alone either. You're all taking a big risk to be here... And you have no business being here!" He finished firmly.

Tai accepted Matts hand and pulled himself up. "Don't do this Matt." Tai said putting on a serious expression, not letting go of his friend's hand. He tightened his grip. His brown eyes a mix of care and anger. He dared Matt to look away. "You're doing that thing where you blame yourself and shut everyone out. Stop that." He let go of Matts hand and turned around. "And you know wherever you go, I go." He mumbled, still facing away from his friend, obviously embarrassed at his own statement.

Matt appreciated the sentiment. Tai was right. He was acting like he would have when he was a child. He should have been more considerate of his friends and the fact he may be causing them to worry.

Matt lightly punched Tai's arm, causing Tai to finally look at him. He had a playful expression on his face, not what Tai was expecting. "I didn't know you were so cheesy, Tai. I thought I was the sensitive one." He teased, trying to make light of their awkward moment.

Tai looked mortified with embarrassment at Matt's remark. "I try to be a good friend and this what I get. No appreciation. You always gotta make me feel stupid don't ya Matt." Tai huffed, crossing his arms, mock pouting.

"You know it!" Matt smiled, "and thanks."

"Whatever." Tai said in a dismissive tone that betrayed the smile on his face.

The peace between them was short lived as they started bickering on what the next plan of action should be.

Kotemon woke up from all the commotion. He got up and saw Matt arguing with another human and an Agumon watching them. He quietly approached the orange digimon. "Hello." He greeted politely.

The orange digimon jumped a little, startled by Kotemon's sudden appearance. He smiled once he calmed down though. "Oh you must be the Kotemon that Darcmon was talking about! I'm Agumon by the way!"

"Nice to meet you. So Darcmon was here?" Kotemon asked while shaking Agumon's hand.

"Yeah she left to go take care of the village. That Dark Knightmon caused a lot of trouble, but me and Tai gave him a run for his money!" Agumon exclaimed shaking Kotemon's hand vigorously.

"Oh thanks for helping out!" Kotemon replied in genuine relief. He was glad to hear the village and Darcmon were safe. There was one more digimon he was still worried about however. Before he could ask about Knightmon he was distracted by the arguing happening between the two humans as it got louder. "Are they enemies?" Kotemon spoke loudly so Agumon could hear.

"Matt and Tai? No way. They're best friends!" Agumon replied.

"Do they always argue?" Kotemon asked.

Agumon nodded. "Yeah that's what friends do!"

Kotemon disagreed. His idea of a good friend was much more peaceful.

"It's not that bad! It's actually really fun! You know they say the best way to get to know a person is to get under their skin!" Agumon replied tackling Kotemon and tugging at his armor.

"Waaa!" Kotemon cried, trying to push Agumon off, "I don't think that's right!"

* * *

Matt and Tai had finally finished discussing whether to look for the other digidestined or go to primary village first. The discussion ended soon after finding out Matt's communicator had been missing since he woke up in the digital world. This was shortly followed by Matt criticizing Tai for forgetting to even take his. They settled on going to primary village first, which was only 2 villages away. They hoped that by then Izzy would find a way to contact them and direct them to the others so they could leave the digital world once it was all over.

Tai finally realized Kotemon was there when he saw Agumon playing with him. He told his digimon to knock it off as they settled down to eat the food Darcmon had given them.

"So you're Kotemon huh?" Tai asked between bites, occasionally talking with his mouth full.

Agumon interrupted Kotemon to make his own statement. "I like him!" He said smiling with his eyes closed. He was pleased with the fact he play fought with him, something he usually only did with Gomamon since the others would get annoyed at him.

"Don't interrupt." Tai said casually while smacking Agumon's hand as the digimon attempted to steal a piece of Tai's food.

Kotemon spoke up feeling slightly awkward as the two strangers started at him while eating. "Yes. I was told by Knightmon to protect Matt. Uh, but I'm not just doing it because he told me to. I would do it either way!" He said realizing how his statement might come off that way.

This got a small smirk out of Matt.

Tai grinned ear to ear. "Ha, I like him too Agumon." Tai said, pleased by his sincerity and amused at how polite and thoughtful yet clumsy he appeared.

"That reminds me." Kotemon said. "Was there a Knightmon with you when you saved Darcmon?" He asked.

Matt felt a knot in his stomach form as he remembered what Darcmon had said before he left.

"No it was just her when we arrived." Tai replied, totally oblivious as he continued to stuff his face. He was thrown off when Matt gave him a worried glance before looking at Kotemon. 'Oh'. Tai thought realizing what may have happened.

"Oh." Kotemon replied in a small voice before falling silent as he stared at the food Tai and Agumon had given him.

Tai nearly choked on his food as he tried to find comforting words. "Don't worry! You have us! Dammit! I shouldn't have let that Dark Knightmon get away. He better hope I don't see him again. I won't let him get away a second time." Tai cursed.

"Yeah. Maybe you can find him again in primary village." Agumon added.

Kotemon shook his head side to side. " thanks for being concerned. Don't worry about me...I'll be fine. I figured this would happen." He said sounding hollow behind his mask.

Matt scooted closer to Kotemon and placed a hand on his shoulder. Kotemon looked up at him. "Knightmon was a good digimon. He risked his life for us. We got to make sure we complete our journey for him." They shared a look with each other before Kotemon nodded.

"Let's give him a little space to sort things out." Matt said. "Here eat this." He handed Kotemon a chocolate desert before smiling.

"Thanks. You don't have to move." Kotomon said as accepted Matts offer and headed to the edge of the field with his cake.

"You think he'll be okay?" Tai asked once Kotemon was out of hearing distance. He yawned as it was starting to get late and his body was sore from all the beatings it took.

"Yeah he'll be fine." Matt replied confidently, looking at said digimons sillouette. Tai's yawn was contagious causing Matt to yawn as well. "You and Agumon can sleep. I'll wait up for Kotemon."

* * *

Sora had digivolved Biyomon into Birdramon so she could fly around to search for the others. However, she wasn't wasn't the only one who was looking for the digidestined, as a pair of slanted fox like eyes watched her.


End file.
